


Swords, Shields and Fists

by ScreamingYearly



Category: Gravity Falls, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Delinquency and Rebellion, Dirty Jokes, F/M, Fist Fights, Fluff, Gen, Hanging Out, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sparring, Steven Universe Has PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Training, mostly just fun stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:41:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24046819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScreamingYearly/pseuds/ScreamingYearly
Summary: It's Summer in Gravity Falls, Steven Universe has been travelling the country and managed to pick up a job for the time being. But just because he's on break doesn't mean he cant keep his skills sharp, so he spars with Connie. On one of his days off while he and Connie are sparring, the Pines twins manage to find them. Somehow, the twins and Connie manage to convince Steven to help train Dipper and Mabel to fight.A lot is bound to happen over the next week or so, will the four be able to handle themselves and whatever shenanigans occur during their training?
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Dipper Pines, Connie Maheswaran & Mabel Pines, Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines, Dipper Pines & Steven Universe, Mabel Pines & Steven Universe
Comments: 15
Kudos: 283





	Swords, Shields and Fists

The clang of a sword and a shield rang out in the woods. Laughter and triumphant hurrahs or grunts of effort could be heard. It was important for a Crystal Gem’s skill set to stay sharp, even if everything was in a place of peace now. Even if Steven no longer needed to train, to be ready at every moment or be on edge, he still wanted to train. He especially still wanted to train with Connie. His Jambud was strong and knew how to challenge him still during their little sparring sessions. 

Connie was almost too good at challenging him, constantly dodging out of the way of his attacks. Even if he used his newer powers, he still didn’t know exactly how to control them or use them too well. Blocking again with his shield, he pushed Connie back. 

Jumping backwards, he bubbled his fists, ready to try something more offensive. Charging forward, he swung at his Jambud, using the bubbles to block any slashes from her sword. Ducking as she swung, he smirked. Using his lower angle, he swung upwards only for Connie to move out of the way. 

She danced away from him, giggling as she saw Steven stumble a little, only saving himself by doing a small twirling motion. With a harrumph from the hybrid, he waited for the swordsperson to attack first this time. Defense was always his strong suit anyhow. The two circled each other before Connie let out a yell, surprising Steven as their respective weapons clanged once more. They’d worked together so many times that their moves were easy to read. 

Even still, sometimes one would be able to one up the other. With her smirk widening, Connie moved fast, flashing her leg out and tripping the hybrid boy. A gasp left his mouth at the unexpected move and before he knew it a loud yelp echoed in the clearing as Steven’s back hit the ground. With the breath escaping his lungs in a wheeze he looked up. Above him Connie wore a triumphant smile as she pointed her sword’s tip towards Steven’s chin. 

“I win, Universe.” Connie cooed confidently; fingers wrapped tight around her sword’s handle. His knight had barely broken a sweat during that fight. A breathless chuckle left Steven as he smiled up at Connie. “Maybe you’re losing your touch.” She joked as their breathing finally slowed, evening out as they calmed down. 

That comment made Steven bark with laughter. “Or maybe you’re just being too hard on me,” he replied with a raised eyebrow. Giggling a little, Connie offered him a hand up. Hands now unbubbled, he reached up to take the offered hand with a smile, Steven got up, leaning in to give his Jambud a smooch before he heard a loud gasp. 

“YOUR GIRLFRIEND HAS A SWORD?” Came a loud, excited cry from across the clearing. 

Blushing at almost being caught, Steven turned to see the Pines Twins. The two trouble makers he’d practically adopted during his stay in Gravity Falls. He had been here for a month or so now, working at the Mystery Shack and learning how to be a normal teen. Or as normal as one could be in a crazy place like Gravity Falls. There was always something new to be found every day in Gravity Falls. 

“My Jambud has a sword. We don’t use girlfriend and boyfriend, remember?” He corrected gently but smiled nonetheless. The twins were great, they had a love of adventure and a knack for causing trouble. Somehow, they managed to get out of it okay their first summer.

Now during their second summer, there were still things to be solved and monsters to find. He’d even encountered a few corrupted gems, like the real Gobblewonker and not the fake one that old coot McGucket had made. He only knew about that whole debacle because he’d been out fishing with the Pines family when it had attacked, probably feeling provoked by the multitude of boats out of the lake this year.

The twins had explained the McGucket situation while he had been trying to hold off the beast with his shield. “What’re you two even doing out here anyway?” Steven followed up, raising an eyebrow at the twins. 

Dipper let out an awkward chuckle as Mabel raced forward to question Connie all about her sword. “Well, we heard clanging and some yelling so we thought maybe there was something bad happening.” The younger boy explained, rubbing the back of his head before growing a bit more excited. “We haven’t been here long but that was so cool to watch! You two really know how to fight.” 

“Connie kicked your butt!” Mabel yelled, throwing her arms up in the air. 

“Darn right, I did. Steven’s gotten rusty during his travels, someone’s got to keep him in shape.” Connie joked back, leaning on her sword’s hilt. 

Steven scoffed a little. “Hardy har har, Berry. You trained with Pearl longer than I did and I wasn’t ready for you to sweep my legs out from under me. That was a low blow! Literally!” The hybrid pouted by the end of his rant before chuckling. Going to grab his jacket from where he’d hung it on a tree branch, he looked back to the twins, both now inspecting his Berry’s sword. 

“You two seem really interested in watching us train. Don’t you guys have fighting experience? We’ve all saved the world at least once.” Steven commented, walking back over. Shucking his jacket over his shoulder, he settled next to Connie, leaning on his Jambud’s shoulder. 

“Well, we’ve thrown a few punches before-” Dipper started. 

“And the giant mech we made during Weirdmageddon!” Mabel cut in from where she sat, still investigating Connie’s sword. 

“Yeah, that, but we’ve never actually had any training like you two. We don’t know how to actually fight, you know?” The boy continued looking up at the teenagers. Connie hummed, gears seeming to turn in her head. 

Somehow knowing what she was thinking, Steven straightened a bit. “Connie... No. We’re not going to-” 

“What if we taught you two to fight?” Connie suggested, brushing off her Jambud’s rejection of the idea smoothly. Looking over at him, she put on a mixture of a smile and a pout. “Come on, Biscuit, we were even younger than them when we started training with Pearl! It’d be no trouble at all, and we can go easy on them. Besides, isn’t it better if they know how to protect themselves?” 

Looking at his Jambud, he cringed a little. Sure, it’d be good for the kids to know how to defend themselves but he also didn’t know how to feel about teaching two thirteen-year olds to fight. But Connie and him had started learning earlier than that. 

“Steven,” Connie started with a begging tone. Cringing a little more he tried to look away, knowing how this went. He wasn’t falling for this act twice. 

“Steven...” The enby took on a flirty tone, smirking and raising her eyebrows. A whine escaped Steven, looking even farther from his Jambud. No way, he wasn’t gonna give in! He wasn’t going to let these kids get into more mess than they needed to! 

“Steven!” His Jambud finally said with a firmer tone. Frowning, Steven turned to look at her. It didn’t help that the twins were making puppy dog eyes. With a large sigh, he slumped over in a dramatic fashion. “Fine! We’ll train you two but we’re only gonna do the basics, so no sword fighting, okay? You guys can’t summon magical shields after all.” 

A cheer sounded from the twins, Dipper pumping his fists in the air while Mabel danced around. Steven’s grumpiness surrounding the situation faded with a smile, humming gently as he watched the twins celebrate. 

His breath was knocked out of him for almost the fifth time today as Mabel slammed into him with a hug. Chuckling, he smiled down at her as she giggled. “Thank yooou, thank you thank you thank you!” She chanted in excitement. 

“Yeah, no problem, Mabes.” Steven smiled, turning to meet Connie’s gaze. “Do you think you can stay for a few days? Just until we get these two taught some of the basics?” He asked with a soft smile, “You know I’d love to have you around for a few more days. You could even hang out with the kids, Wendy’s crew and I for a bit too!” 

Connie hummed, putting a finger to her chin. “I suppose that I could stay for a little bit. Would Soos mind me rooming with you for the time being?” 

“I don’t think he’d mind. Do you need to go home and get yourself some clothes and stuff?” The teen boy asked, putting his hands in his pockets as he wandered over to stand next to Connie, now unaware of the twins watching the two of them. 

“Yeah! I’ll be back in a few hours.” She smiled, picking up her sword and going off to look for Lion. Sighing, Steven smiled dopily after her before being snapped out of it by a certain Pines’ ‘ooooh’ing. 

Blinking, he turned his head to look back at the twins. His eyebrow rose a little at Mabel’s frankly devilish look and Dipper’s smug smirk. Looking between the two of them, his brows furrowed. “What?” Came the confused murmur from the older teen. “Is there something wrong with Connie staying in my room while she’s over to help train you guys?” 

“As long as you don’t get too loud it probably won’t be a problem.” Dipper replied, eyes slightly lidded and amusement lacing his voice. 

“Get too loud? What do you mean?” Steven asked, now turning fully towards the twins. Was this some teen thing that he didn’t understand? Tilting his head innocently, he sent a questioning look to the twins. 

“You know,” Mable practically cooed, “The usual teen stuff! Cuddling, making out, all the other stuff too.” The response only made him more confused. Brows furrowing more, the fears turned in his head. In a moment of realization, his eyes widened and face reddened. The two Pines burst into laughter as Steven began sputtering loudly trying to explain himself. 

“H-Hey!! That’s not why I invited Connie to stay and you know it!!” Steven said, exasperated. “I swear, you kids have been hanging around too many teenagers. I might be a teenager but... T-That... isn’t why I invited her to stay.” His voice warbled as he covered his face in his embarrassment. “Seriously, who said you two kids could be capable of that kind of humor- o-or even being able to think about that kinda of stuff! Geez...” 

Mabel continued to giggle, covering her mouth to try and hide them. “We’re almost teens ourselves Steven besides, we’re just joking around!” Mabel replied, letting her giggling die down. 

“Yeah, we’ll leave you be,” Dipper trailed off, “just like we’ll leave you be when you’re with Connie.” 

“Haha, ZING!” Mabel shouted. 

“Dipper!!!” Steven squeaked, face turning even redder than before. “Augh, you two are incorrigible...” He pouted, trying to hide his face in his jacket. Huffing, he rolled his eyes with a little teen angst. “Come on, let’s get you two trouble makers back to the shack before Stan yells at me for not getting you two home on time...” He said with a sigh, shucking his jacket onto his shoulders. 

“Come on, or I’m leaving you in the woods!” Steven huffed as he began walking away, shoving his hands in his pockets. He chuckled when the kids started to laugh with him but quickly panicked as they saw he wasn’t joking... Mostly. He had kinda vowed to protect these kids after all. 

“Steven! Wait up, we didn’t mean it!” Dipper cried as he started running to catch up with the older boy. Mabel only laughed with the comment of “Yes, we did!” 

Steven shook his head, these next few days were going to be quite the crazy ones, weren’t they?


End file.
